Market Plan Just Balls - Essay Example

1. Just Balls Market Profile Just Balls, an online seller of balls has the following market plan: Target Markets As an online seller of balls, Just Balls’ can have two primary target markets. The first would be the direct online selling to customers. The second one would be a business-to-business (b2b) marketing strategy acting as suppliers to athletic clubs, schools and small-scale sports goods outlets. Direct online selling In the first target market the range of age of customers would likely be 10-25 years with an annual household income ranging from $25,000 to $85,000, about 70% of whom are male. Based from the target age range of customers, prospective customers are still in the primary, secondary and collegiate levels, young professionals (e.g. amateur and professional players). Since this is an online enterprise, buyers may come from different parts of the world, but as a start-up company, the target would be mainly form the United States. Most of prospective buyers are single (about 70%), affiliated with different religious groups and organizations, but primarily Protestants, Roman Catholics, and members of other Christian denominations. Being sports enthusiasts, prospective buyers live an active, disciplined and healthy lifestyle. They are concerned on their physical, mental and emotional health. Their hobbies are geared to improve and excel in the sport activities that they are interested in. With an active and healthy living prospects have an optimistic, “I can do it,” attitude. They are solution-oriented. Instead of passively handling a problem and trials, they look at it as an opportunity for growth and improvement. With these of traits this target market, the benefits that they find in a retail outlet is ease and accessibility in buying the products that they want. Also, these prospects are enthusiasts, so they are willing to establish a continuous business relationship with sports equipments suppliers. Business-to-business Just Balls can tap institutions that have demand for their products. They can cater to bulk orders coming from athletic institutions as well as the athletic department of different schools. They can also act as suppliers to small-scale athletic supply stores. Just like in the other target market, these businesses need simplicity in contacting their suppliers. They need to establish relationship with their clients. Presentation Approaches Knowing the needs and benefits that my customers have, I need to resort to novel ways in presenting my business concept to Vice Presidents of different enterprises that will supply the stocks. The first approach that I will do is to directly submit a proposal stating the new business idea that I will introduce to them. In that letter I will point out the different advantages and benefits of having a website especially dedicated to buying balls for sporting use. Another method that I will employ is the use of multimedia presentation that will directly convey the benefits that your innovative business outfit. Using modern audio/video presentation materials, I will provide them a sample of the website. This will give them a concrete idea of what the real website will look like and how it will function after its release in the cyberspace. Nothing can replace the real service, the fully functional website (beta version, at least). Through promotional emails, I can disseminate the newly constructed website to our target markets. I can also create blogs that will provide web exposure of the new website and also as reference for the needed supporting promotional materials and documents for the website. Benefits of the Just Balls Online Store Being a specialty online store dedicated to selling balls of different ball games, Just Balls can provide the following benefits: Being an online store, it gives customers and client easy access to purchase balls. By just clicks away, customers can post orders online. This also provides ease and security in payment. These reduce the hassle that buyers often encounter while purchasing any product. The website can also provide in-depth and thorough have an interactive product brochure that illustrates the wide array of balls for sale. This gives customers a glimpse on what kind of balls that they can buy. Through the informative powers of the Internet, Just Balls can also provide a very comprehensive insight on customers on the quality and the distinct quality that ordinary stores cannot provide. Possible Objections and Rebuttal - Why sell balls online if I can buy it directly in a local store? My rebuttal for this to state to him are the benefits that I had mentioned above. The Internet is a tool that provides easy access and complete information to make most out of our purchase. Is the ball that we are using really that worth buying? A rational and educated customer, especially sports aficionados that belong to my target market, knows the importance of garnering information in buying balls, which stores of sports equipments seldom provides. - I’m an impatient person. That’s why I want the ball in my hands at once. Can an online store give me the ball I need immediately? We provide fast delivery service. Once your order is approved, we see to it that we ship your ball as soon as possible. Besides, instead of personally going to a store just because of buying a ball, our company can deliver it right at the comfort of your homes of stores. - I don’t know how to use the Internet. How can I order from you? Our company has alternative method to connect with our customers. You can use the landline and mobile phones to order from us. We can also be contacted through SMS messaging. - I don’t have a credit or a debit card. How can I pay you? We have alternative convenient ways to pay us. You can use Paypal.com, e-gold.com and other online payment website. You can also use wire transfer and other bank-to-bank payment schemes. - How can I be sure that you will give me the ball that I really need if I can’t see it personally? Also can you guarantee that your balls are not defective? We have a quality inspector(s) who personally assures that the balls coming from our suppliers are in perfect quality. Should there be any factory defects after you have bought the balls from us, we replace the product at once. Estimated Income Statement Just Balls Forecasted Income Statement 2008 Net Sales $350,000 Cost of Goods Sold, Occupancy and Buying Costs 100,000 Gross Income 250,000 General Administrative and Store Operating Expense 65,000 Operating Income 185,000 Interest Income, Net (1000) Income Before Income Taxes 186,000 Provision for Income Taxes 65,100 Net Income After Taxes 120,900 2. “Bob’s Boxes” A. Selling the Idea to the Company 1. With the presentation by “Bob’s Boxes,” the company can create an innovation both in the cardboard and detergent manufacturing industries. By incorporating three product variants in a single package, Bob’s Boxes can simplify the choice of consumers in buying detergent products. This innovation can improve the chances of the company’s market penetration strategy. By introducing a packaging that will provide ease in choosing the right product for the right job, it will improve the market reach of the company. A cardboard company that can suggest a product innovation of its client increases the possibility of expanding its clientele portfolio. 2. Bob’s Boxes introduce a new exciting market for the company. The first benefit that the company can reap out of this innovation is the conservative estimated initial increase in sales by ten percent. Improvement in the business image and is another benefit the company under which I am employed in can gain. In an industry where brand familiarization is not a huge factor, introduction of innovative products can greatly improves the familiarity and promotional appeal of the company. Future innovative use of this concept can also be considered another benefit. Integrating different product variants in a single package can be used not only in detergents but also in other industries. They may use this for body soaps, food flavoring and other products that could lessen the cost in the part of the customers buying the product enclosed in this packaging. 3. At the initial phase the financial benefits of this concept could be only translated in a minimal increase in sales (I noted a mere 10% increase in sales). So if the company previously earned $1 million, the innovation will give them $100,000 additional sales in their first year. However, as the new product will become more popular in the cardboard industry more companies will more likely buy this packaging design. This will amount to another increase of 50%. The $1.1 million total sales of the first year can be turned to $1.650 million. On the third year the sales can reach an increase of 70% resulting to additional $1,155,000 to the company, providing a total sales of $2,805,000. B. Selling the Idea to Procter and Gamble 1. Procter & Gamble (P&G) can use this innovation to improve their image for promotional use. They can increase their wide array of products by coming up with a brand that will cater the different laundry needs of households. This will provide a new market for household users: one that will buy an all in one package for different users. Another opportunity that P&G can avail by using this new product is the diversification of an already existing product to fully realize the specialized and ideal use of each variant. Mixing three products into a single pack (such as 3-in-1 packaging) and promising customers that you can use a single product for 3 different usages can end up not satisfying even a single one of the mentioned claims. With the innovative idea of placing three different interrelated products in a single package, Procter & Gamble can concentrate on improving the quality of each product. By coming up with three different products that included in Bob’s Box they can refrain from having a haphazard claim of producing a product that caters to all three different needs. 2. With the ever-fierce competition that various detergent manufacturing firms faces, Procter & Gamble has to devise plans or find innovative solutions from other companies to improve their marketing strategy to realize their aim of capturing most of the market share of their products. They also need to improve the quality of their products to achieve this vision. Bob’s Boxes offers a very unique and potent solution to this problem. While most companies had the thinking paradigm of mixing three products to capture three different market segments, this package design joins three different products without necessarily mixing the components of each product. While we can say that this is an ingenious method of clearing extra space, we cannot guaranty that this mixture can satisfy the needs of three different demands. Though a company can claim that a single product can clean white and light-colored clothes, the bleaching agent present in the mixture can damage the coloring agent of dark colored clothes. This lessens my confidence in the truthfulness of the P&G’s statements that they can fully satisfy the three market segments. Instead the Bob’s Boxes compartmentalizes these three detergents into three separate chambers, retaining the full strength of bleaching chemicals for white clothes and also maintaining the pigment protecting chemicals of detergents for dark-colored clothes. 3. The first benefit that Procter & Gamble can receive is the uplifting of its company image, especially as detergent manufacturer. With the quality build-up and enhancement method that I have mentioned above, P&G’s reputation as a concerned major player in detergent industry will be uplifted. The consumer mentality and impression that 3 different products in a single package offers more than a product in a single pack despite weighing the same can most likely woos customer to buy more of the product in a Bob’s Box. With the aforementioned benefits, P&G can gain greater sales by espousing this marketing strategy. But this more of an end to the beautifully and rationally done choice of actions that they have already done to improve the image of their company by creating a product packed in Bob’s Boxes. This conveys that P&G does not compromise the quality of its product to the ever-increasing need to dominate market share. 4. The typical household is the primary target for this product. With a wide array of clothing types of a typical American household, a product that will clean them outstandingly will stand tall among the rest. Another target market is laundry service industry. This packaging motif can even discipline industrial launderers to wash different type of clothes separately. This is done to protect the clothes form incurring stains and blemishes from laxly placing different clothing in one machine. 5. There are 11 methods in closing a sale, according to Mortensen. I would pick 6 that I think will be effective in closing a partnership deal with Procter and Gamble. I will initially use the direct close by straightforwardly asking him to “get the ball rolling” by signing the contract. If the he still refuses I will use summary close by restating the benefits that Bob’s Box give. If the Procter & Gamble representative still hesitates to sign the papers, I will use critically lay down the positive and negative aspects (making sure that the positive outweighs the negative) to complete a pro-con close. If he still hesitates, I will employ relevant-story close, by telling him tales wherein customers regret that mistakes that they have done by not buying the Bob’s Box idea. I can also resort to a puppy-dog close by letting him personally feel “the Bob’s Box experience.” If he still refuses I will use the last closing method in my arsenal: real-reason close by asking him the real reason why he still refuses to sign the contract and move on to my next prospect. Works Cited Kennon, Joshua. “Sample Income Statement Investing Lesson 4 - Analyzing an Income Statement.” About. 2007. 17 April 2007 McNamara, Carter. “Marketing: Preparation and Planning” Free Management Library. 2007. 17 April 2007. . Mortensen, Kurt. “Closing Techniques to Make You More Money” EzineArticles 29 March 2006. 17 April 2007 . Read More